For most of our 11 years as wedding photographers we have been primarily natural light photographers. We like to keep things simple, and as destination wedding photographers, we like to keep our gear as lightweight as possible.

But there are times where a photographer just needs their own light. Times where there are no windows and only overhead spotlights… times where group photos have to happen right here and right now… times where we just need a little pop of light on our subjects… times where there was no room in the lighting budget for a spotlight… you get the idea.

Because we like simplicity, we’ve used video light as our main source of off-camera lighting for the last several years. We love the ease of using continuous light, but there are times where it’s just not powerful enough, and we’ve had to reconsider our lack of off-camera flash use.

Enter the B10. An off-camera flash AND video light in one, that is lightweight, powerful, with a sleek, user-friendly interface that even the least technical photographer (me) can control right from a smartphone. This thing not only checks all the boxes, it adds extra boxes that we didn’t even know we needed but that actually, we definitely needed.

We had the perfect opportunity to take the B10 for a test drive on a day-after shoot just this past weekend. The bride and groom were exhausted, as were we, and the last thing any of us felt like doing was dragging ourselves around the wet streets of Montreal (it had been raining on and off all day), so we suggested they meet us in the studio. The bride admitted that they were planning on canceling altogether but the idea of meeting in the studio seemed doable enough, so they went along with it.

She had a stunning Berta gown that she didn’t end up wearing on the wedding day, so the purpose of this session was really to photograph her in this gown, as well as get some additional intimate portraits of the bride and groom together.

One of the selling points of our day-after sessions is timing the portraits at the end of the day so we can get the best light. Needless to say, the rainy weather was not cooperating, so we decided to create our own sunset light with the B10.

Even with our limited experience with off-camera lighting, setting up the B10 was as simple as it gets. We mounted it to a boom, high up, beyond where we could reach it, and with the smartphone app we were able to control the intensity and temperature of the light to somewhat mimic the setting sun.

We both agreed that this setup will be a new go-to for us, as it can literally be done anywhere. We were in the studio this time, but one of us could easily hold the light while the other shoots. By having the B10 on the continuous light feature, we could both photograph the couple without the distraction of the flash going off to interrupt their romantic connection.

The flash setting also allowed us to create some super clean and simple portraits of the bride in her gown. We placed her in a white scoop, softened the light with an umbrella, and with a slowed shutter speed, we had her sway the dress around to create a bit of movement.

We’re just getting started with the B10, but we are thrilled with our first test run. We can’t wait to take it around the world and see what we can do together!